From 1905 to 1942

Initiated by

The City of Münster Verschönerungsverein (civic improvement association), chaired by historian Professor Bernhard Niehues. An application to erect the memorial was made in 1899. The association promised the city funding of up to 10,000 German marks for the memorial. Collection of donations was delayed by a number of years.

By a resolution of the City Council on February 1, 1905, the memorial to Annette von Droste Hülshoff was moved to Kreuzschanze to make way for the memorial.

Designed by

A competition was held and was won by sculptor Wilhelm Bolte. The competition was initiated in 1898 by the Association of German Historical Societies.

Design

The design featured a 2.5-metre high sculpture of the goddess of peace Eirene holding a raised olive branch standing on a platform. In total, the memorial stood 4.65 metres high. The entire construction including the base was seven metres high. At the foot of the platform stood a ‘Pappenheimer’, the name given to cavalrymen from the time of the Thirty Years' War. He had laid down his arms and was gazing up at the goddess of peace. The structure also included a cannon, a standard and a lance.
The memorial featured the coats of arms of the German Reich and of the cities of Münster and Osnabrück, where the Peace of Westphalia was signed. The sculptor avoided the use of any symbols of victory. His intention was to place the focus on the exhausting struggle for peace on all sides.

Official opening

July 1st, 1905

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Historical context

The idea for a memorial “to commemorate the Peace of Westphalia of 1648” arose in the context of the celebrations for the 250th anniversary of its signing in 1898. The idea was taken up by the Verschönerungsverein. A competition to design a memorial to peace was launched in 1899. The location, at Aegidiitor, had some historical context: through this gate, the delegations to the peace conference entered the city. The memorial was unique in its time, as nowhere else in the empire was a memorial to peace erected.

In March 1942, the peace memorial was melted down as part of the national call to collect metals for the manufacture of weapons for the Second World War. Unlike war memorials similarly melted down, the peace memorial was never reinstated after the war. The granite platform remained in place until late 1954, when it was demolished. Since the 1990s, the site has been a pétanque playing area.

Public perceptions

The memorial is mentioned by city historian Eugen Müller in a 1923 newspaper article, which stresses the “unique beauty of the memorial’s surroundings.”

In 2018, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) requested to examine whether it would be possible "to install a modern monument to peace and to commemorate the special character of Münster as a city of peace at the historic site of the first memorial to peace in Münster on Aegidiischanze." As an alternative, the City administration proposed installing a light installation or reproduction so that an outline of the memorial might once more be seen. On February 8th, 2022, the Bezirksvertretung Mitte (borough council for the central district) unanimously agreed to "erect a panel with information about the former memorial to peace."

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